So today I got a letter in the mail....

billyc

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Apparently my neighbor doesn't appreciate my garage full of arcade and pinball machines. I got a letter today informing me that I need a "Class 1 business license" in order to have the machines, and they need to come approve my business location for zoning. (my GARAGE)

This same guy has called the cops on my Dalmatian, whom is a very quiet dog, and nobody ever notices he's even here. He also called the cops once for me having a few guys over and playing Blitz in the garage. (door shut, no alcohol involved) However, the cop came and asked for a quarter instead, and played Ms Pac. :)

I'm guessing that with the recent "horse trading" and craigslist selling/swapping I've been doing, he's claiming Im running a business out of here. Who knows, either way, I've got to call and discuss this business/occupational tax paper tomorrow. I don't see why the city would even send a letter without coming by first, but, hey, it's the craphole I live in.

Anyone else buy/sell games occasionally (twice a month) on craigslist and ran into this?
 
pretty sure jon exidy made his local news when a neighbor had a similar issue. Seem to recall he had to deal with city hall or some authority. Pretty sure he was basically told he had to remove all the coin mechs from the games so they could not be used to make money as if he were running an arcade out of his house.

Think he eventually moved from the area.
 
Local governments are scratching around everywhere for money these days and using some old statutes that have been on the books forever but seldom enforced to try to squeeze out every dime they can get.

It's been going on here a lot lately. There's not much leeway. If you make even $1.00 they can hit you with a fee in some cities. I'd just refuse to pay it and leave the onus on them to prove that you have a business.
 
There's gotta be more back story. Have you ever had words with this guy, or is he just a nutcase shut in? Maybe he's just freaked out with odd cars coming and going, picking up games etc..

As long as you're not charging people to play these games, I don't think you'd have any trouble convincing the city they're for amusement purposes only.

If push comes to shove, you could always rent a storage unit. Do any selling or trading away from the house.
 
There's gotta be more back story. Have you ever had words with this guy, or is he just a nutcase shut in? Maybe he's just freaked out with odd cars coming and going, picking up games etc..

As long as you're not charging people to play these games, I don't think you'd have any trouble convincing the city they're for amusement purposes only.

If push comes to shove, you could always rent a storage unit. Do any selling or trading away from the house.

He's a shut in nutcase. I know a guy that has worked with him for 23 years. said he's always been a dick, and basically nobody at his job likes being around him either.
He -NEVER- has anyone visit his house. Once my wife's cousin came over and parked on the street overnight. He claimed that he couldn't "check his mail" because her car was on the street. He's one of those guys that is very non-confrontational, however, he calls the cops every chance he has. My old neighbors across the street ended up moving. They had children and he would call the police on them claiming they "kicked their football" in his yard.

Yes, for lack of better words, he is a douche. I just still don't understand why the city didn't come and question or speak to me before mailing me a letter accusing me of operating a business.
 
I just still don't understand why the city didn't come and question or speak to me before mailing me a letter accusing me of operating a business.

The city is lazy and they can either spend money to send someone to talk to you or try and make money by accusing you of breaking the law.
 
Yes, for lack of better words, he is a douche. I just still don't understand why the city didn't come and question or speak to me before mailing me a letter accusing me of operating a business.

It's cheaper to send you a letter.
 
I live in Tennessee. We shoot neighbors that do things like that.

See, the "he needed killin' plea is a valid legal defense here. It has been used successfully in several cases. That's why the people here are very nice.

Besides, I have always lived under the premise that if you can see your neighbor's house, you are not far enough in the country.
 
I should invite him over to play a game and claim he tried to rape me. Maybe they would send a letter to him. :) lol
 
...or his house could somehow catch on fire. You then call the police and complain that he has his heat turned up too high and it's making you and your family uncomfortable.
 
Use it as toilet paper and mail it back to city hall. I am sure they will get the message that way. Also go to your neighbors house and let the air out of his tires. When he goes out to pump them up video it and claim he is running a car repair facility. Fight fire with fire..

Foo
 
They must assume your games take quarters to play, if they are on free play then there shouldn't be an issue. Its not a business, its for fun. That's like them trying to charge me for running a movie theater because I have a big screen TV, surround and people come over to watch movies.... hell, we even make popcorn..... damn, I'm in trouble! Are you a taxi if you give someone a ride? They are fighting an uphill battle.
 
lol. This thread has been funny so far.. loads of ideas... too bad I would wind up in prison. lol
 
I put sound proofing on my games room, which adjoins my neighbors fence

Also did him a few favors to sweeten him up to the idea. Electrical work cheap etc.

Your neighbor sounds like a total dipstick
 
+1 Exidy...think it was him. IIRC, they tried to also ding him for selling his games as well? I wouldn't go on the offensive with these kind of neighbors. I have one that thinks he/she is a victim of gang stalking and that my family is in on it (google the term for some high concentrated wtf?). It's entertaining until you wind up constantly watched by someone that thinks they are being constantly watched.

I would, however, prepare to be proactive on this with the local government. They *should* see what is going on and reason that there is no business going on there...but we're talking about government, so, what are the chances of it doing anything reasonable?
 
I would try to do some research on your by-laws, especially the ones they claim are relevant, to see how they truly define a business. You're certainly not alone as a collector (although from the city's perspective it may be less common to be collecting arcade games), and I can imagine other collectors (regardless of item) move things in and out of their collection a couple of times a month. Since all of your activities are related to maintaining your collection (and that includes moving things out to make room for games that are more desirable from a collection standpoint), and that your garage is not in any way open to the public (it's a private collection), I'd be hard pressed to see how the city can continue down the biz zoning path.

Still, you might want to dig deeper to see if anything is specifically on the books about people and their collections - has your city specified a certain level or threshold of collecting activity that gets treated like a "business"? I frankly don't see how a collection could be treated as a business. To use the example again, people talk of personal art collections as investments, not commercial enterprises, but to be clear, none of us are collecting as a get rich quick scheme - it's for our personal enjoyment - but it's worth digging deeper just in case there's something quirky on the books, and in order to verify the "language" of the bylaws so you can characterize your collection in a way the bylaw enforcement officer understands and won't misinterpret.
 
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